Framing Walls with Larry Haun

They need to show some of these videos at high schools for kids that might not want to go to college. These guys are exceptional

That was, for me, the perfect YouTube video. No cheesy music, no filler, genuine blokes who don’t need to be comedians, everything straight to the point, massively informative and interesting. Every second of that video was worth watching. Thanks guys, brilliant. (660 people have disliked this video. Come on guys, what do you want?).

Regarding this line of thinking that Larry was somehow “old school” it is worth reading his memoir A Carpenter’s Life As Told by Houses. About ¾ of the way through the book he really drills down into his experience doing hard-core “piecework” production framing in southern California with the construction company his older brother Jim started in the early 1950s. By that time he had already been a carpenter on a handful of truly “old school” framing jobs including one traditional balloon frame job. Framing lumber was hand sawn and walls were erected stud-by-stud in the vertical position. Then by the mid-50s the world of residential construction was turned upside-down and they were in the vanguard. They were full-blown early adopters of nearly all new production tools and techniques…including nail guns. The Haun brothers pioneered many of these. He also points out that there were individuals who were so specialized in their area of framing that they could nail almost as quickly as by gun. He speaks of a pneumatic stapler that he purchased and used for sheathing in the early 1960s. I don’t know for sure but think that a lot of the hand nailing that you see in Larry’s video’s make have been an aesthetic “cinematic” choice that he and the producers made. He and Joe were phenomenal nailers and perhaps wanted to put that on display. It should be noted that the core message these videos is not how you nail but rather how you pre-plan the work, sequence the work, position materials on the job, accurately layout the work and finally erect the work plumb and straight with the fewest steps. At no point is he doctrinaire about nailing. Larry also takes much pride in doing this while using a tape measure sparingly and that was very much "new" in his early production framing days. Having him lug around and use a nailing gun scene after scene would have reduced the impact of the video’s core message. Just my opinion.

The boots. The skiller diller. The suspenders. Massive wood handled framing hammer. This was when I came up as a kid learning framing with my dad. Good memories.

Larry is the Bob Ross of framing. I’ve never painted a painting in my life, but still watched Bob Ross’s shows. I’ve never even built a damn dog house in my life, but here I am watching Larry frame a house.

years ago, before youtube, i bought a cd they used to sell about framing houses by Larry Haun. with that i self taught myself to frame houses and have since built 6 houses from the ground up.

When I turned 30 and was going through a divorce and needed work a friend hired me on his framing crew..I didn't know squat but was willing to learn..at first I was just lumping wood and his gofer.. eventually he taught me more skills..framing walls, hanging rafters, sheathing etc etc.. eventually the crew fell apart and I went on to different work..but those skills turned me into a man and stuck with me 25 years later..watching these two masters bring back those memories and the pride that I felt everytime we completed a house!

This guy is an absolute legend. I started framing in 2013 and watched all his videos and completely adopted his style. Larry's swing is effortless and manly. Legend without a doubt.

I'll never get tire of Larry and his cheeky one-hit nail drives.

God bless Larry Haun, read some of his books many years ago! If Larry were alive today he'd be a youtube star- such a natural style of delivery and good, honest content. RIP

The planning and marking process is the most difficult one and seeing Larry and Joe doing it just amazes me. RIP Larry, you're a legend.

larry's right arm is the original blueprint for the paslode framing gun

32 people who disliked this video couldn’t eye ball the cut.

Imagine, what a satisfying life, to build homes by hand with your brother in cool/sunny weather.

These 2 guys can do more, top quality work than any south of the border roofing crew ever could!

They still calibrate tapes and squares with Larry's cuts to this day.

I don't know how many times i've watched these. But they're still glorious after all these years.

I remember watching these videos as a kid.. I am pretty sure I have 1 more building left in me. Then age is going to set in. I'm sharing these teachings with kids I know. Larry was a good calm teacher.

Man he’s they type of guy that you want him as a teacher, mentor. I can listen to him carry on for hours.

Joe doesn’t say much, but you know that man is just as smart as his brother! Great crew, great knowledge.